Robotic surgical systems have been used in minimally invasive medical procedures. Some robotic surgical systems included a console supporting a robot arm, and at least one end effector such as a forceps or a grasping tool that was mounted to the robot arm. During a medical procedure, the end effector was inserted into a small incision (via a cannula) or a natural orifice of a patient to position the end effector at a work site within the body of the patient.
Cables extended from the robot console, through the robot arm, and connected to wrist and/or jaw assemblies of the end effector. In some instances, the cables were actuated by motors that were controlled by a processing system with a user interface for a surgeon or clinician to be able to control the robotic surgical system including the robot arm, the wrist assembly and/or the jaw assembly.
In some instances, the wrist assembly had multiple degrees of freedom for movement of the jaw assembly using several cables. For example, for grasping or cutting end effectors, the wrist assembly provided the freedom for movement by allowing changes to pitch, yaw, or an opening and closing of the jaw assembly.
As demand for smaller end effectors increased, device manufacturers continued to develop end effectors such as grasping and cutting end effectors having smaller cross-sectional areas. These smaller cross-sectional areas reduced the total force that could be applied between the jaws of the end effector. Additionally, designing end effectors supporting multiple degrees of motion required several cables. Each additional cable that was needed further limited the ability to reduce the cross sectional areas of these end effectors.
There is a need for end effectors having small cross-sectional areas that are able to provide higher forces between two jaws of the end effectors while providing multiple degrees of motion.